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The Ten Commandments

Legal developments: Year 2005 to 2008

Legal challenges and court decisions:

2005-MAR-01: U.S. Supreme Court to hear two Ten Commandments cases:
On 2005-MAR-02. the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on two
cases:

McCreary County v. ACLU of Kentucky: Officials in McCreary,
Pulaski and Harlan counties in Kentucky placed framed donated copies of the Ten
Commandments in the halls of two county courthouses and one school
building. Each is hung in a cultural display of 12 historical documents. Eleven
of the documents are secular in nature; the Decalogue is the only religious
document included; no other religion is represented.

Van Ordern v. Perry: This involves a six-foot tall granite monument
containing the Ten Commandments placed on the grounds of the Texas State
Capitol at Austin in 1961. It includes the words "Ten Commandments," the
text of the Decalogue, a Star of David, a symbol representing Jesus Christ and
the words "I am the Lord thy God." No other religion and no
secular text is included. 1,2

2005-JUN-27: U.S. Supreme Court rules on
the Ten Commandments cases: On 2005-JUN-27, the U.S. Supreme
Court ruled on both cases. As in most cases involving religion or morality,
the decision was by its usual 5 to 4 vote:

The courthouse displays are unconstitutional because their purpose
is clearly religious.

Also on 2005-JUN-27, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, again by a 5:4
vote, that the Texas capitol display is constitutional because its
context is secular. In the words of MSNBC, they are "a legitimate
tribute to the nation's legal and religious history."

2005-JUL-13: WV: Clay County commissioners
vote to retain the Ten Commandments: The commissioners installed a copy
of the Ten Commandments on the wall of their
chamber some years ago. This was followed up by other documents, including
the Bill of Rights. Jesse Sizemore, a resident of the county, has asked the
commission on several occasions to remove the plaque. The American Civil
Liberties Union (ACLU) sent a letter in 2004-OCT to the commissioners
asking that the plaque be removed. No action was taken. The ACLU is
currently considered filing a lawsuit. Andrew Schneider, executive director
of ACLU in West Virginia said: "It's not as if we haven't decided that
the Ten Commandments plaque in the county commission room of Clay County is
violating the law. ... We are only considering how to deal with that
violation. We view litigation as a last resort." He suggests that the
commissioners would "face a heavy burden of proving that the displays do
not convey, and were not intended to convey, the religious message that the
Ten Commandments clearly represent." The first few Commandments require
people to worship Yahweh and threaten dire punishment on themselves, their
children, their grand children etc onto the third or fourth generation if
they do not. The ACLU appears to suggest that this is not an appropriate
message to give to the general public -- particularly those who are neither
Jews nor Christians. Schneider continued: "There are many different
versions of the Ten Commandments. The Catholic version differs from the
Jewish version, which differs from the many Protestant versions - so how
does one decide which version is best? The Ten Commandments advocate
religious beliefs that should be left to each individual. ... People should
not be made to feel like outsiders in their own community because they might
not share the dominant religious view. Religious freedom is alive and well
in America precisely because government cannot tell us what to believe and
cannot favor one religion over another."

Almost 200 people attended the commission meeting. All but about five
favored retention of the display. 4

2005-NOV-01: Ten Commandments Commission
organized: Ron Wexler and Pastor Myles Munroe have organized a Ten
Commandments Commission to promote the integration of church and state
by restoring and expanding the placement of Ten Commandments monuments,
plaques, symbols, etc. throughout America. They have declared Sunday,
2006-FEB-05 as Ten Commandments Day and have asked Christian and
Jewish religious leaders "...to host special celebrations and/or deliver
stirring messages centering on the Ten Commandments." 5

2008-MAR-31: UT: Small
religious group at U.S. Supreme Court: Summum, a UFO oriented group
in Ogden, UT, was refused permission by city officials of Pleasant Grove City,
UT to add a
granite monument listing the group's "Seven Aphorisms" to an existing
municipal cultural display of religious and secular objects. The display
currently has two Jewish Stars of David, the Greek Letters Chi and Ro (the
first two letters of "Christ"), the Ten Commandments, a (presumably Masonic)
all seeing eye and pyramid, an eagle, and an American flag.

The group lost at lost at federal district court, and later won on
appeal. The city has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has decided
to hear the case. More details.